As one of the few major cities in the region without city-funded ways to get around downtown, Boca Raton is one step closer to adding services to help residents get around without having to drive. Boca Raton’s Community Redevelopment Agency is scheduled on Monday to weigh proposals for alternative transportation in an effort to reduce downtown traffic. According to…
The cost of creating a “quiet zone” for train horns in downtown Tampa started at $2.7 million, but now has risen to more like $3.17 million. And City Hall is covering much of the difference. The City Council recently approved spending $320,000 more for the project. The money comes from downtown redevelopment funds, a slice…
Downtown’s 22-story One Enterprise Center is for sale. An offering flier circulated Friday says the 317,571-square-foot tower is 51.2 percent occupied. Built in the mid-1980s, the structure is on 1.15 acres at 225 Water St. John Bell, managing director of Transwestern in Miami, is marketing the property. “We are expecting strong turnout,” he said, citing…
Although the City Council formally approved the 10-year, potentially $55 million downtown waterfront revitalization plan this week, a centerpiece of the design will immediately be stalled in legislative red tape. The Imagine Clearwater plan calls for converting Coachman Park into a garden and relocating its concert band shell to a new 4-acre open green space,…
Two prominent views emerged during the public forum on the proposed restructuring of South Florida Avenue at the Polk Museum of Art Thursday evening. The plan is to reduce the number of travel lanes from four to two, while keeping the center turn lane, from Pine Street to Ariana Street. On the side of proponents,…
The northbound Business U.S. 41 gateway into the city of Palmetto is now redeveloped with an entirely fresh and inviting look. Known as the Riverside Multimodal Project, the expanded park flanking the main road into downtown features towering palms, lush landscaping, wide brick and paver pathways for pedestrians and bicyclists to share, old-fashioned streetlights, 1,000…
As two architectural firms compete to design a new downtown parking garage, Bradenton officials believe its design will set the standard for future downtown development. “We are pretty frugal here but also very entrepreneurial,” said Mayor Wayne Poston. “We understand how iconic this building needs to be, and we are concerned about design in everything…
The owner of the Aquamarina Hidden Harbour and surrounding land in Pompano Beach is seeking a development partner should it receive approval for the property’s mixed-use redevelopment plan. Aventura-based Aqua Marine Partners has a pending comprehensive plan amendment for its nine-acre site on the east side of Federal Highway from Northeast 15th Street to Northeast…
For more than a decade, New Port Richey city officials have tried to walk the walk and talk the talk about attracting prosperous residents with a walkable community downtown. Begun in 2004, the Main Street Landing project will restart construction after a public ceremony 11 a.m. Friday, Feb. 24, at the site at 5500 Main…
Boynton Beach Boulevard is the city’s entryway, but the buildings that line it are outdated — the only destinations that might attract an interest to stop are City Hall and the post office — and the street’s structure emphasizes vehicle use over walking or riding a bike, the Community Redevelopment Agency says. And it’s time…
The late A. Quinn Jones Sr., a legendary and revered Gainesville educator, meticulously kept documents related to his civic, personal, professional and religious life. Those documents and other materials will be displayed inside galleries at the new A. Quinn Jones Museum and Cultural Center at 1013 NW Seventh Ave. The museum is in the house…
The 2011 groundbreaking for Vilano’s Publix was an especially joyous event for the 5,000 residents living east of the Intercostal. No longer would the need for a few groceries require a trip to the mainland. The Publix was also celebrated as the start of a planned commercial center of shops, sidewalk cafes, upper-level residences and…
In hopes of gaining the City Council’s support during its Wednesday, February 15, meeting, the Apopka Community Task Force on Violence presented a document that the group called a community biopsy, urging for a five-pronged approach to solving violence in the area, especially in South Apopka. First unveiled in December 2016 at a press conference, the…
Why does the legislature want to kill CRA’s Way back in 1969, the Florida Legislature passed the Community Redevelopment Act. The new law was designed to prevent and eliminate slum and blighted areas by designating tax dollars from the neediest communities to go back into those areas. In 1993, Apopka created its own Community Redevelopment…
The Florida Economic Consortium on Violence and Crime (FEC) hosted a lunch forum to discuss the role of community redevelopment agencies (CRAs) and how they can be leveraged to address blighted areas and slums in Apopka. Attended by city and county officials and community members, the lunch forum took place at the Fran Carlton Recreation…
NORTH MIAMI BEACH, Fla. /Florida Newswire/ — Redevelopment Management Associates (www.rma.us.com) announced that their award-winning redevelopment strategies for North Miami Beach have spurred land sales of over $200 million, with an estimated $500 million in new construction now underway or approved. The firm was hired to reinvent the city to compete with other thriving municipalities.…
Manatee County Commissioner Charles Smith recently completed an 18 month course to become a redevelopment professional by the not-for-profit Florida Redevelopment Association, the county advised on Thursday. The training course is designed to enhance knowledge of urban redevelopment issues, which Smith says will help him become a better commissioner. He represents District Two, which covers…
After 13 years, it has become apparent to city leaders that an extra layer of building regulations hasn’t been the right fertilizer to make the Garden District grow. Despite its charms — a quick walk to Hollis Garden, Barnett Family Park and the Frances Langford Promenade — the roughly 70-acre Garden District has failed to…
The city has officially deemed a piece of prime but environmentally contaminated property near downtown a brownfield. The designation for the property was necessary so the city can seek state economic incentives for a developer or property owner to clean up the site and build there. During a meeting Tuesday night, the Dade City Commission…
Less than two years after the Polk County Community Health Assessment listed obesity and weight issues among the major health challenges facing Polk County residents, the state Department of Health is recognizing four cities and the county for their healthy-weight programs. Lakeland, Winter Haven, Mulberry and Bartow, as well as Polk County, were among 98…
West Palm Beach West Palm Beach will have a new foodie district this year, The Warehouse District, located southwest of the Palm Beach County Convention Center near downtown. It comprises eight vintage-style buildings and a New York–inspired food hall, Grange Hall Market. Miami Miami Worldcenter has broken ground and will become the hub of downtown,…